China strongly opposes UK's Huawei ban; will act to protect its interests

China said Wednesday it will take necessary measures to safeguard its own interests following Britains decision to purge all Huawei 5G network equipment from the country.

Chinese ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters that China strongly opposes Britain's decision because it was driven by commercial politicization of technological issues rather than national security.

US officials hailed Britain's decision, saying it showed a "growing international consensus" that Huawei and other companies allegedly linked to the Chinese state pose a threat to national security.

Hua claimed London "(acted) in coordination with theUS to discriminate against, suppress and eliminate" Huawei, and accused Britain of becoming "America's dupe".

Earlier, UK's Huawei chairman John Browneresigned after the country approved the decision citing national security.

The UK government said it would work on a timeline to remove the company from its 5G network.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had chaired a meeting of Britain’s National Security Council (NSC) on Tuesday to discuss the Huawei issue.

The UK hadsaid earlier that the US sanctions on-chip technology will likely impact the company and will affect its supply.

The United States had banned Huawei from its 5G network and had disallowed US companies from trading with the Chinese telecom company.

The US has alleged that Huawei helps the Chinese government in spying activities, an allegation it has consistently denied. Britain had put the Chinese company on review after US sanctions blocked Huawei's access to US chips and semi-conductors which is needed for 5G networks.

China had earlier warned Britain it could face repercussions as a trading nation if it backed down from the Huawei deal.